Friday, July 28, 2017

One of my favorite designers and AD100 constant, Miles Redd, has collaborated with Ballard Designs, to create a new line of furniture, accessories, and lighting which will launch in August! If you are like me and can't wait til the official launch then pop over to the pre-launch sneak peek and take a gander here!

I honestly like every piece in the line, but this post includes my favorites which I predict will be best sellers. Miles Redd and Ballard Designs hit a major " home run" with this collection! Make sure to tee up your purchases prior to the sale opening because I predict a quick sell out of the first inventory released. You don't want to be on the back order list while watching others posting their Miles Redd/Ballard items in situ on instagram.

I am so honored to have been asked by Woodard Furniture and Traditional Home Magazine to design an outdoor porch at the Hampton Designer Showhouse in Southampton, NY. When I was asked to create a porch, I decided I wanted it to be a dining porch which would combine the casualness of the North Carolina coast with the chic high style of the Hamptons. As with all my projects, the initial design consideration was function and flow. Once I had my beautiful Woodard furniture chosen, the next step was to address the aesthetic design of the porch. That is where I really have fun but before I talk about that, let's address the items I chose from Woodard Furniture. Are you familiar with Woodard?

Woodard is so great because they offer custom options that we designers love. I chose the Bay shore wicker dining chairs with cushions in sea salt and the Glade Isle dining table but I chose to use a custom hammered top in Aztec Bronze. To finish the space I added a pair of Van Dyke side chairs but opted to remove the large back cushion and replaced with a lumbar pillow from Woodard so the handsome mid-century back is revealed. Last but certainly not least, I chose to include a Woodard tea cart in a white lacquer which I set up as a bar cart.

The only hard surface in the space to consider was the fireplace which is a peach colored brick, so the jumping off point of the color scheme began with choosing colors that would work back with the brick. Everything else was white which I chose to keep, so the porch felt light and fresh. I honestly wanted to paint the ceiling aqua but then it would need to be repainted after the showhouse closed so I decided to keep it white but if I had been designing a porch that would remain I would definitely have painted the porch ceiling aqua or haint blue. It is the southern thing to do, right? Old wives tales maintain the porch ceilings in the south were painted blue for two conflicting reasons. One tale is they were painted blue to ward off evil spirits but honestly people are as superstitious today so that doesn't hold credit. The other tale was the blue paint was done to ward off mosquitos, which could be more likely since paint back then was made from lye and once lick resulted in death. Today, it is more likely we paint our ceilings blue as homage to our southern past and also because blue feels like the sky and expands the ceiling to feel more expansive. I paint ceilings blue because I like adding accent colors.